Robert's article pretty well sums up the state of the industry. For the amount of money to be made from the prices currently paid for abstracting I have to question whether the occupation is worth the effort to restore it to its prior profitable status. It may not even be possible. The emphasis of the VM's seems to be centered on cheap prices and fast turn around...quality be damned. Efforts to improve and educate the industry to the contrary may be too little too late at this point.The trend cited by Robert's article is probably just the beginning of a down cycle.

The VM's are experimenting with electronic title plants and outsourcing to the third world countries. The only thing to which the VM's are going to repond  is improved service driven by profit. With the lack of focus on the quality of the product the days of the independent abstractor may be coming to an end. Whether the position of the independent abstractor is going to be restored depends on whether the economic forces of the marketplace permit it. Even if the market favors the independent abstractor, it is likely to take years to restore the abstractor to his/her rightful place in the industry. In the interim many will probably fall by the wayside.

We have been fortunate enough not to have allowed abstracting to become anything more than a supplemental source of income. We have been further reducing any reliance on abstracting by phasing out problem clients, concentrating on serving only the best clients and replacing the lost business with other areas of service. So far it has worked out well. I think the abstractors should start to prepare for hard times, and not wait for the ax to fall.